Loose Shrouds?

Just purchased an '82 H16 in good shape, did some hull repairs, etc. and am now looking go get out on the lake.

Stepped the mast yesterday in the driveway with a couple of buddies and we were freaked out by the slack in the shrouds even when set on their lowest setting. I know from reading a bunch of posts that tension, rake, etc. is controlled by the jib halyard and when we did tension the jib halyard, things firmed up. BUT there's so much play in the shrouds when the boat is just resting on the trailer that I'm worried about the mast swaying back and forth or jumping out of the base when I'm simply backing up the trailer down the boat ramp. I believe I could lift the mast straight up out of the base if I chose to.

I noticed this comment in a post from mmiller:
<<When the boat is static on the beach, the rig should be taut with NO slack in the shrouds.>>

So, am I correct in saying that the shrouds should be taut, but not tensioned when on the trailer with no sails up?

Sorry if I'm posting a question that's been answered a million times, but as someone who has sailed mostly keeled monohulls with stays and shrouds tensioned like piano wires, this is a bit confusing.

miguel

#1 if you park your boat on the beach with the mast up you should tension the rig to keep the mast from flopping around in the wind.

#2 the mast will not jump out of the base unless you get extremely wild backing down the ramp to launch your boat. If you are still worried see #1 and use the jib halyard to tighten the rig up.

3# the side stays should be adjusted so that with the sails up and the boat fully rigged ready to sail the main sheet blocks can almost be tightened to block to block.

4# the jib halwayrd is tightened to power or depower the boat. The higher the wind speed the tighter the rig should be

hope this helps

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Tom & Nancy Page H20 803

You may need new shrouds, and get a new forestay, too, just in case. I recommend buying the new rigging from a Hobie dealer since they'll have the proper lengths. Sounds like you have way too much slack, and you probably shouldn't take the boat out if it's that loose.

Don't put too much tension on the shrouds since the mast needs to rotate. We adjust the shroud tension (before tightening the jib halyard) by having one person hike out on a trapeze wire while the other person puts the shroud in a lower hole on the chainplate - on the same side as the person hiking out.

I found that if you take a 6 to 8 foot piece of line tie a loop in one end put the trap handle throught the loop, you can than pull the rig to where you want it and stand on the line while you adjust the chainplate with both hands. Just one more way to rig you boat single handed.

Sam

Yes, exactly correct. You'll be amazed at how much tighter the rig gets after hoisting the jib. The jib luff has a wire that "replaces" the forestay when tensioned.

Follow Toms' recommendations for tensioning the jib halyard and then tighten the shrouds accordingly, WITH THE SAILS UP.

By comparison, cats are rigged much looser than mono's, especially dinghies and skiffs.

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hobiejohn at earthlink dot net
Fleet 297

Thanks everyone. You just confirmed one of the reasons I bought a hobie. An active community. Anyway, the conclusions I'm coming to from the Open Forum and the H16 Forum are:

• Really (as in really, really) slack shrouds even with the sails off and no halyard tension is probably not good. On the other hand I can’t compare them to shrouds on a monohull. And I don’t want to over tension them and not have good mast rotation.
• If I leave the mast stepped while on the trailer, (which I'm going to do) the jib halyard should be tensioned so I don't get stuck with a bent mast like Yoh's.
• pd might be right about the forestay being updated. It looks like its in better shape than the shrouds and it has no jacket. The shrouds are very dirty even after scrubbing and have a number of kinks, cuts, etc. (They seem superficial, but...)

So, I’m thinking I’ll get new shrouds. I should have factored this in when I bought the boat. I was so intent on finding an H16 with good hulls I didn’t really consider how much a new tramp, some new blocks, new halyards, epoxy, wax, cleaners, etc. and now new shrouds would cost. But, hey the fun/cost ratio will still be high...right!

mig

Hey everyone,
I'm not sure if I understood the different advice given, but I'll weigh in. Different Hobies are rigged differently.The H20, Tiger and the H18 are generally tensioned before you put up the jib, whereas on the H16 the rig is tensioned with the jib halyard. Your rig WILL be very slack BEFORE you hoist the jib. On the 16 there is no need to use the trap wires to tension the rig, thats what the purchase system of your jib halyard is for. In fact at the nationals last year when all of the boats were on the beach unrigged the masts were sitting at a very extreme angle and the shrouds were very loose. They probably had a foot or more slack when the rig was flopped over. I've never heard of a mast coming out of a step due to a slack rig on the 16. Some guys are running the adjustible jib halyare system so that they can tune the rig while sailing, which requires a little looseness in the rig.
On the 16 you set the pins on your shroud adjusters for the propper rig rake, then tension the whole thing with the jib. See other threads for discussion on rig rake. Definitely get new shrouds for safety, but with the new rigging you will notice even more slack in your rig because the forestay is cut a few inches longer now. Some 16 sailors are putting massive tension on their rigs using the Aussie halyard system and the mast always seems to rotate fine. I agree with t page it's nice to stop the rig from flopping in the wind if you are going to store it rig up for a while.

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Sail Revolution
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It may be obvious, but someone new may not know how to tension the rig when the sails are not up.
Attach your jib sheets to the bridle chain plate and sheet in. This will stand the mast up and take the slack out of the shrouds.
Most racers are not running a very tight rig now.
As the wind increases you loosen the rig, not tighten it.
You want the mast to go back and fall away a little to de-power.
It was mentioned that you want to rig to get your main blocks to almost touch when you sheet in tight.
This is true for the jib also. Start by making sure the jib two blocks properly and then go to the main.

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Pat Bisesi
Fleet 204 Syracuse, NY